The
Iban language (
jaku Iban) is spoken by the
Iban, a branch of the
Dayak ethnic group formerly known as "Sea Dayak" who live in
Sarawak, the
Indonesian province of
Kalimantan Barat and in
Brunei. It belongs to
Malayic languages a
Malayo-Polynesian branch of the
Austronesian language family, and is related to
Malay, more closely to
Sarawakian Malay. It is thought that the homeland of the
Malayic languages is in western Borneo, where the Ibanic languages remain. The Malayan branch represents a secondary dispersal, probably from central Sumatra but possibly also from Borneo. The Iban language is also a subject tested in PMR and SPM, the Malaysian public examination for Form 3 and Form 5 students respectively. Students comment that questions from these exams mostly cover the classic Iban language, making them a daunting task for many who are more fluent in the contemporary tongue. The language is mostly taught to students in rural areas with a majority Iban population, including Baleh (Kapit),
Betong,
Sri Aman,
Saratok,
Lubok Antu, Pelagus (Kapit),
Pakan and Julau.